Modern Marketing, Silver Bullets And Ghouls

A couple of weeks ago, I was running a digital strategy session in Poland for a group of very smart advertising folk.  We were talking about different ways to engage senior execs in networked media issues and I mentioned a recent experience I'd had when asked to go and speak to a Grand Fromage at a financial services organisation.  I explained that, prior to my chat, the only brief I was given was : ‘he wants to know what’s going on but says if you talk about technology he’ll walk out or go to sleep’.  Slightly daunted, my approach was to stick to business issues I suspected the GF was very close to and then mention a few points about how each was changing as a result of technological trends.  It seemed to work in that he stayed in the room – and awake.  Back at the digital strategy sessions during the coffee break, one of the more experienced agency folk approached me and excitedly asked what the ‘answer was’, following my chat with the banking executive.  I was slightly confused and responded that there wasn’t really, 'an answer'.  However, I understood what was meant by the question.  A lot of people...